PROLOGUE

Amid a midday ashfall, Lord Tresting tours his fields with a high-ranking obligator, boasting of harsh discipline and profits. He plans greater exploitation and future advancement in Luthadel. A skaa laborer meets his gaze with open defiance—Kelsier—then vanishes into the crowd, unsettling Tresting, who orders harsher beatings.

At dusk, Kelsier enters a hovel, trading news from distant estates where some lords ease cruelty. He provokes Tepper, then reveals stolen noble provisions, feeding the skaa and undermining Tresting’s authority. Kelsier debates Mennis about fear and rebellion, hinting at coming change and revealing scars from the Pits of Hathsin.

Screams pierce the night as soldiers seize a young girl. Kelsier burns tin, heightening his senses, learns of Tresting’s habit of killing used girls, and decides to act. He departs into the mists, intent on stirring trouble rather than leading open revolt.

By morning, the skaa discover Tresting’s manor a smoldering ruin. Jess’s daughter returns alive, describing how Kelsier slew soldiers, taskmasters, Tresting, and the visiting obligator, then torched the manor. The feat terrifies the skaa, who fear the Lord Ruler’s reprisals.

Mennis concludes Kelsier forced their hand: remain and face slaughter, or flee. He orders Tepper to gather everyone to escape east toward rumored rebel caves, accepting nights in the dreaded mists as their only chance at survival.